VENICE, Italy (BRAIN) — An Italian court has ordered Giro's European distributor, Spain-based Adventure Sports Group Europe S.L., to stop making certain marketing claims about its waterproof cycling gloves after a complaint by a company that has a patent on those features.
Late last year Italy's Altexa S.r.l. petitioned the Court of Venice for an urgent injunction against the distirbutor and two retailers over Giro's marketing for its Proof and Proof 100 gloves. The marketing and packaging for the gloves included claims that the gloves' waterproof-breathable layer was "single-piece" and "heat-bonded," qualities that Altexa said could only be achieved under Altexa's Italian and European patents.
Altexa calls its waterproof-breathable technology HDry and markets it to outdoor brands for gloves and other items. The HDry technology is used in gloves by cycling brands including Assos, Ekoï, and Café du Cycliste.
In an order last week, the court said it found that Giro's marketing claims were misleading and constituted unfair competition.
The court ordered Adventure Sports Group Europe, and the two retailers, to stop using any marketing materials on product packaging or online that claims the gloves have "single-piece" or "heat-bonded" characteristics.
If the companies continue selling products with the marketing claims three days after the order, they will be fined 100 euros per product sold. If they don't stop advertising the claims within three days, they will be fined 100 euros each day. The defendants also were ordered to pay Altexa 8,000 euros, plus taxes and other fees, to cover three-quarters of the company's legal fees in the case. And it ordered the distributor to post a summary of the court's order on the brand's Italian homepage, it.giro.com, for two months. The summary is there now and the site no longer offers the Proof and Proof 100 gloves for sale.
Giro, which is owned by Revelyst, advertises the gloves as having DDS, or Direct Dry Solution, technology, a trademark of Racer SAS, a French motorcycle accessories brand.
While Altexa named Revelyst in its initial complaint, a company spokesman said it was unable to serve papers to Revelyst in the U.S. in time for an expedited hearing so Altexa waived its complaint against the company. The order applies to Adventure Sports Group Europe and the two Italian retailers named (Bi & Bi Di Boscolo Laura and La Bicicletteria di Osti Giovanni). Other European retailers, including Decathlon, have stopped making the claims on their websites.
As of this week, Giro continues to sell the gloves through its U.S. website and is continuing to make the same marketing claims there. A Revelyst spokesman was unable to comment in time for this article.
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Screenshot of the it.giro homepage this week.
